US Court Rejects Deportation Appeal of Man Accused of Being Nazi Guard

A U.S. appeals court has rejected a final appeal challenging the deportation order of an accused Nazi death camp guard.

The Ohio-based U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a U.S. immigration judge has the authority to order 87-year-old John Demjanjuk deported to his native Ukraine, or to Poland or Germany.

A U.S. immigration judge last year ordered the retired auto worker deported to Ukraine, rejecting Demjanjuk's argument that he would be tortured if returned to his native country.

The government initially claimed Demjanjuk was the sadistic Nazi death camp guard known as Ivan the Terrible and deported him to Israel.

An Israeli court ruled in 1993 that he was not Ivan and sent him back to the United States, where his citizenship was restored. But a U.S. judge again took away his citizenship in 2002, ruling that documents proved Demjanjuk was a guard at a different Nazi camp.

Demjanjuk says he was drafted into the Soviet Army and was captured by the Germans, becoming a prisoner of war.